Cloth \Cloth\ (?; 115), n.; pl. Cloths (#; 115), except in the
sense of garments, when it is Clothes (kl[=o]thz or
kl[=o]z). [OE. clath cloth, AS. cl[=a][thorn] cloth, garment;
akin to D. kleed, Icel. kl[ae][eth]i, Dan. kl[ae]de, cloth,
Sw. kl["a]de, G. kleid garment, dress.]
1. A fabric made of fibrous material (or sometimes of wire,
as in wire cloth); commonly, a woven fabric of cotton,
woolen, or linen, adapted to be made into garments;
specifically, woolen fabrics, as distinguished from all
others.
2. The dress; raiment. [Obs.]
See Clothes.
I'll ne'er distust my God for cloth and bread.
--Quarles.
3. The distinctive dress of any profession, especially of the
clergy; hence, the clerical profession.
Appeals were made to the priesthood. Would they
tamely permit so gross an insult to be offered to
their cloth? --Macaulay.
The cloth, the clergy, are constituted for
administering and for giving the best possible
effect to . . . every axiom. --I. Taylor.
Body cloth. See under Body.
Cloth of gold, a fabric woven wholly or partially of
threads of gold.
Cloth measure, the measure of length and surface by which
cloth is measured and sold. For this object the standard
yard is usually divided into quarters and nails.
Cloth paper, a coarse kind of paper used in pressing and
finishing woolen cloth. -- Cloth
shearer, one who shears cloth and frees it from superfluous
nap.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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